


In these Moments

by Midwesthillfreak



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Multi, OT3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-16 00:30:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14800883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midwesthillfreak/pseuds/Midwesthillfreak
Summary: Preston wants Rose to stay closer to home. Danse likes watching Rose explore the Commonwealth. Rose still manages to find happy moments even with everything in the world that wants to kill her.





	1. Height difference

Danse is quiet as he steps into their house, even with the living room light on he's not sure whether Rose was still awake or not. Quietly closing the door her finds her sitting on the couch, hunched over to mend someones armor, watching her Danse comes to a unexpected realization. Having not announced himself while entering the house he’s able to sneak up on her, chuckling when she let’s out a startled squeak when he wraps his arms around her.

“Jesus Danse! You scared the shit out of me!” She exclaims, twisting her head up to playfully glare at the paladin.

“Do you realize how small you are?”

She snorts, “Yeah okay, thanks.”

“You’re just,” He pauses to squeeze her, “So small.”

“You’re being ridiculous.” She shakes her head with a smile.

“I can just,” He loops his arm under her legs and scoops her up, “Pick you up.”

She shrieks, clutching the mending, as he cradles her in his arms, “Danse! What the hell, put me down!”

“What’s going on in here?” Preston asks as he comes through the front door, crossing his arms with a puzzled smile.

"Put me down!"

“Have you realized how small Rose is? Look at this!” Danse, ignores her demand, lifting her higher to indicate who he’s talking about.

Preston chuckles, “You’re right, she is tiny.”

“Uh-uh! Don't you dare encourage him! Neither of you are allowed to gang up on me!” She points at Preston accusingly, trying not to smile.

“Rose, you are one of the shortest adults in Sanctuary, you can’t claim to not be small.” Preston says, laughing at her loud protests.

“I’m the general! You aren’t allowed to make fun of me! It’s the rules!”

“You aren’t the general in our home and I get to make fun of you whenever I want.”

She throws her arms out, narrowly missing smacking Danse in the face, “Ugh, I’m fixing your armor and this is how I get thanked? Put me down, I’m gonna kick his ass.”

Danse snorts and holds her tighter as she squirms in his arms, nearly dropping her when she lobs the bundle of armor at Preston and manages to catch the other man in the face. He finally sets her down before she tries elbowing him in the face, placing her back on the couch she'd been in before he'd picked her up. Preston hands her the mending and, still snickering, leans down to kiss her forehead to apologize for teasing her. 

"You're still cute even if you are short."

She swats at him as he settles down next to her, and shakes his head with a laugh when Rose swivels, throwing her legs into his lap and curling closer. Danse sits on the other side of Rose, letting her stretch out and lay her head in his lap. The mending gets set to the side as they sit together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shameless, self indulgent fluff? I had a weird half awake dream and this happened.  
> Rose is only 5' which is average in the Commonwealth, Danse is 6'1 because I can't imagine him being anything but tall, and Preston is 5'11 just because. They find out that pre-war Rose was considered short and give her shit about it. Also, I don't know how to end chapters smoothly.


	2. Cock-roaches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never doubt Rose or her need to prove someone else wrong.

"I can't believe they were right that cockroaches can survive a nuclear bomb." Rose comments, staring at the radroach cooking over the fire.

They had settled down after clearing the warehouse of the small nest of radroachs, Preston had started a fire while Danse and Rose set up bedding and traps. Rose had been unusually quiet after dealing with the roaches before suddenly saying what she'd been thinking about for the past ten minutes. 

"Cock-  _ what _ ?" Preston's tone is incredulous as he stares at her from the other side of the fire.

"Ya know, cockroaches!" She says, gesturing to the grilling meat.

No one speaks for a period before Danse says, "They were  _ not _ called cockroaches."

Rose gapes at him, "Uh, wh- what the fuck do you mean they weren't called cockroaches? That's what they were! What the fuck!"

"No, that just. That sounds made up." Preston states.

"Are you," Rose leans back, hands on her hips as she stares at her companions, "Are you calling me a liar?"

When they didn't answer her she huffed and scooped up her gear. 

"What're you doing?" Preston asks.

"I'm gonna prove it to you! Kling library, libraries always have info so it should probably have something!"

"Rose, it's the middle of the night." Danse pointed out.

"Oh, well," she paused, looking around before slumping back down onto her sleeping bag, "'kay but we're leaving right away in the morning then, got it!"

Preston chuckled as Rose points at both of them before laying down, but agrees anyway.

* * *

 

"Isn't it," Rose pauses to shake radroach bits off her shoe, "Isn't it ironic that we had to clear out giant cockroaches just so I can prove that they're cockroaches?"

"They are _not_ , cockroaches." Preston says vehemently, shaking his head while Rose laughs at him.

Danse doesn't say anything, just continues to secure the lobby of anymore surprises. The small library just to the south of Lexington was largely abandoned, the windows and doors boarded up, not that breaking and entering was anything new when around Rose. With most of the windows boarded up the light that leaks through the cracks gives the library an eerie atmosphere. Clearing the last couple of aisles, Danse holsters his rifle and heads back to the lobby.

Finally satisfied that her shoes weren't going to track radroach guts all over the library, Rose stepped up to the greeting desk.

"Alright, there's usually a dictionary up front right... here!"

Triumphantly pulling the large book out and laying it out onto the counter, squinting as she flips through until she came upon the page she wanted.

“See!”

With the library cleared, Danse exists his power armor before crowding around the counter with the other two. Both men, towering over her by at least a foot, are able to lean over Rose to read.

“I need more light.” Preston remarks, laughing when Rose looks up to squint at him as well.

“Oh,” Rose says, brightening her pip-boy’s screen light.

“‘A beetlelike insect with long antennae and legs, feeding by scavenging. Several tropical species have become established worldwide as pests in homes and food service establishments.’” Preston reads aloud.

Rose beams smugly at them both before Danse says, “What do they look like?”

“What do you mean ‘what do they look like’? They look like radroaches but smaller!”

“I dunno, how do we know for sure?” Preston asks, hiding a smile as Rose sputters at their continued disbelief.

“I- I’ll,” She flounders before scowling and stomping off, “I’ll fuckin’ show you!”

Preston is still trying not to smile when he glances up at Danse, losing his composure when he sees Danse’s face contorted in an attempt to try hiding his amusement at how worked up Rose had gotten. They were both struggling to keep their laughter quiet when Rose yells triumphantly. 

“Wh-where’d you go Rose?” Preston asks, coughing in an attempt to hide his chortles.

Rose notices the badly hidden amusement on both men’s faces and frowns at them both, “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, nothing, sorry,” Preston starts before shaking his head, “Lets see what you got.” 

Rose purses her mouth before setting the encyclopedia she found on the counter, flipping through until she came upon ‘cockroach’.

“There, see!”

Leaning over both men examined the picture of a cockroach the book provided, glancing between it and the dead radroaches around the lobby. 

“Hm, they do look pretty similar.” Danse comments.

“Because they are the same, two hundred years of radiation and mutation between.” 

“Alright Rose, you were right.”

“I told you. Cockroaches.” Rose says smugly.

“You aren't allowed to tell MacCready.” Danse says.

“You wish, but I’m taking this with me and showing everyone, no ones allowed to call me a liar again.” Rose replies, shoving the book in her pack and heading out the door, obviously intent on telling everyone at Sanctuary what she found.

“Can’t believe you were right.” Preston mutters, shaking his head as he follows her, Danse climbing into his power armor and joining the small group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised myself I'd get this chapter done on my two days off, and I did. Now maybe I can finish the next chapter by tonight.  
> This isnt perfect but its good enough for now.  
> I have a fallout centered tumblr (roses-and-radiation) where I talk about my fallout ocs more.


	3. Fever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vault 81: one life saved while another lies asleep their fate unknown. How did this happen.

Danse can’t look at her, not when she's laying there so still, not when its his fault that she's in this infirmary, his fault that she's dying. The doctor may have told him that she had a chance to make it, but he saw the looks between the doctor and his nurse when she broke out in a fever. She’d saved that kids life so they’d let her stay but there wasn't anything they could do, she’d given the last cure away. Selfless, but dead.

He holds her hands though, he lets himself take comfort in the way he can feel her pulse, too fast but there. He wants to apologize, but if he does he’ll ask her to come back, to let him take her place, so he says nothing, hoping.

The nurse, Rachel, steps into the small room with a tight smile, it's been three days since she got sick, Danse knows they don’t think she’ll survive. After checking her fever, it hasn't been lower than 38° C since it started, and replacing the empty IV bag with a full on, Rachel leaves them. Danse settles waits for some kind of change.

He doesn't have to wait long, soon after Danse feels her hand clench around his and looks down. Rose is still curled in a fetal position, her normally light blonde hair is dark with sweat and plastered to her face and neck. She’s shaking again, full body tremors that leave her visibly more exhausted. She’s frowning in her sleep, nothing new, she is mumbling though, something she’s done off and on since falling unconscious. He smooths her hair back, she relaxes at his touch and he leans back, squeezing her hand gently, wishing he could change what happened three days ago.

* * *

 "General, we need to take extra safety measures if we-"

"We don't have time Danse, Dr. Forsythe said Austin doesn't have a lot of time, if we're going to help him we need to figure this out fast." Rose cuts Danse off as she holsters her gun after filling the clip.

Danse frowns and attempts to continue arguing, but Rose snaps at Bobby, following the boy as he leads them to the hidden entrance to the secret vault. The walk doesn't talk that long and then she’s ducking into the secret vault. Danse curses as he follows after her, slowing to let his eyes adjust to the sudden darkness. 

There's a click and then Danse can see Rose already shining her pip-boy light around to find the walls. He takes a moment to look around himself and feels unease at the completely trashed room they're standing in, he can't even tell what the room was supposed to be originally. The room dims as Rose walks through a hole in the wall, taking the light with her. He follows after her, his rifle up and ready for any enemy they may encounter. 

 Rose moves quickly, scanning the area for danger as she does, her pip-boy light shines around the destroyed rooms eerily, the only sounds as they continue on is the clanking of his power armor and their combined breathing. They come upon a couple of hostile robots that are easily dispatched before they encounter their first couple of mole rats just as easily taken care of as they continue. Danse tries to stay ahead of Rose, more armored than her with mismatched pieces of armor over her vault suit, but the mole rats pop up from every direction and he struggles to keep between her and them. 

The further they continue on the more mole rats they encounter, most fairly easy to deal with but some are more difficult and seem to target Rose more than Danse and he still can't shake the feeling that something is wrong with these creatures. He tries to bring up his concern to Rose but she brushes them off, more focused with finding the cure for little Austin, if it exists. As they encounter spying terminals Rose finally slows down to read the entries, refusing to tell Danse what they say, but he can see that even she is starting to feel the unease he has felt since they stepped into the hidden vault. 

Finally they arrive at a locked door that Rose can't pick, the terminal connected to the door requires a password.

"Damnit where would they leave the password!" Rose asks out loud.

Danse looks past the cells lining the hallway and sees an open door with desks, "It looks like there might be an office of some kind back there."

Rose looks, squinting before nodding, "Alright we'll check it out."

Walking past the first open cell Danse hears the mole rate before it pops out of the ground, it becomes hectic after that, more pop out and Danse tries, he tries to stay between them and Rose, but it wasn't enough. He hears Rose yell in pain and turns to find her shooting the largest mole rat they've encountered yet, a mole rat queen, it goes down but she's limping as she continues towards the back room. 

"Rose-"

"Not now Danse we're almost there." She cuts him off as he comes behind her, she grabs the holotape off a desk reading it before holding it up, the password.

"You're injured we need to treat it bef-"

Rose cuts him off again as she stabs a stimpak into her leg just above the wound, "It's fine, we have to keep moving."

* * *

Danse looks up as Curie floats into the private room, the Miss Nanny had spent the past three days puttering around the clinic. He turns away, continuing to clean Rose's face with a wet towel.

"She could still wake up," Curie states.

Danse ignores her, he's still not sure how he feels towards the robot. Angry that she only had one working cure, 83 years it was a miracle that even that one dose remained still usable and no available ingredients to create another cure in time to save Rose. Some part of Danse was grateful that at least there was a cure to help Austin, Rose's goal that she was prepared to die for.

"She has survived longer than others without the cure. She has a chance to wake up." Curie said, interrupting Danse's thoughts. She floated closer, to scan Rose, before setting a mechanical arm on Danse's shoulder. He watched Rose continue to sleep, he wondered what the miss nanny had seen when she scanned Rose.

"Monsieur you should take care of yourself, you have not eaten or drank in 19 hours and have not slept in 28 hours." 

 Danse sighed, reluctant to leave Rose even for a minute, what if she did wake up and he wasn't there?

"Her fever has gone down from 38.8° to 37.5° since the last time I scanned her. She could wake soon."

"Then I'll stay."

* * *

By the time they've gotten back to the clinic Rose is struggling, she's visibly exhausted and stumbling. She also refuses to stop and rest, determined to get the cure to Austin as fast as possible. 

"Doctor," Rose rushes into the clinic only to grab the door frame for a few seconds, catching her breathe, "Dr. Forsythe we have the cure!"

The doctor comes out of a side room with Rachel right behind him, "You do?"

Rose holds out the vial she had clutched close on the way back, "Yes just one, for Austin."

Dr. Forsythe takes the vial, looking at it in awe before looking Rose over, he pauses when he notices her sickly pallor and sweaty face, he glances back at the vial as Rachel starts to fuss over Rose. "One dose, I hope it works."

He walks away to administer the cure to Austin while Rachel helps Rose walk to a chair, Danse watches his stomach twisting as Rose collapses to the floor succumbing to the sickness that Austin was about to be cured of. The doctor ignoring Rachel as she called for help for Rose, instead closing the door to Austin's room.

* * *

"Danse?"

Danse's head jerks up as he hears a slurred whisper of his name, "Rose?"

She's awake, looking around slowly, shakily as she finally sees him sitting beside her bed, she closes her eyes for a few seconds as she wakes up more.

Danse jumps up to the door yelling for the doctor before sitting back down,taking her hand in his, "You're awake." He chokes, can't say more when she squeezes his hand with hers, smiling at him as she closes her eyes again.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes another abrupt ending but I've worked on this off and on for like half a year and I'm just this is it. She's awake and that's the important thing. Anyway this is how Rose got the vault 81 disease and why Danse becomes a little overprotective.


End file.
